Hello, i am new to the site and overal LD, ive yet to really try delve into the scene, mainly due to fear (of the unkown of course).
The fear i have is of this sleep paralysis, my father once had it and it sounded horrible, i also saw it on a tv documentry, where people was repeatedly having a horrible demon goblin sit on there chest and each night it felt like it did the first time. This sort of thing seems quite frightening to me.
Will this sort of thing occur frequently when trying LD?
A woman on the documentry said, everytime it happend to her it felt as if she had never had it before and the same terror was there, is this so? Can it be controlled?
I really am excited by the prospects of LD, i would like to escape at night to my own litle reality for a small time, but i guess im just scared of the unknown.
A final question, I am generally a negative sort of person… I wish i wasnt i genuinly do but i can never control it and i wonder if this will effect how i would have lucid dreams.
for example and this may seem strange to you and i hope you can bear with me, but often a negative thought comes into my mind, i want to get rid of it, but i feel as if my brain is playing tricks on me and constantly puts it into my mind. will this effect my control over a lucid dream?
I’ve only had 2 real LD’s and have never had old hag but no one else has answered so ill try. With SP just try to stay calm. to some people it isn’t a big deal (i dont mind if i get it) And old hag i don’t know much about but i think there are other topics about it here. In Your last question what is the negative thought about?like what is it telling you?Anyway i think Lucid dreaming is worth trying.
Unless you’re trying to have a Wake Induced Lucid Dream, you have no need to encounter sleep paralysis. There are many other techniques, WILD probably being one of the most tried and most failed of them all.
First off, it isn’t normal to have to face what some might call “The old hag”, I’ve had 9 LD’s that lasted long enough to record them so far, and I have never ever had to face any old hag, although I have faced my biggest fear in a LD once. If you are afraid that you might see the old hag during trying to have a LD, I suggest you just don’t do WILD yet, try doing just the RC’s, the only way you can ever experience sleep paralysis is if you do WILD, or just wake up during a bad time, negative thoughts are just a reflection of what you might be doing and thinking when you are awake, its normal to get strange/weird/negative thoughts and emotions when you go to sleep, it’s just your subconscious working to solve problems. Anyway, i was a little afraid for the old hag before, but as you try the methods you see that it isn’t scary at all, you aren’t ‘awake’ during WILD either, you are in dreamworld, so the last thing you should be worried about is any SP when you first get it, sorry if this came of a little weird, im half asleep.
heya weltonia. i know what you mean by these negative thoughts continually coming into your mind. i once as a kid had this constant sensation as i was trying to go to sleep that my eyes were really irritating me, and one night i had the thought that this feeling was like a fork jabbing me in the eye. for the longest time afterwards, no matter what i thought of, my mind would wonder to this fork in the eye image again and again, i would imagine, grabbing the fork by the tines, but the fork would magically grow and jab me in the eye. i know, im wierd right?
what you gotta do, is nab that in the butt, as soon as you get the thought. i would just jump up out of bed and start to shake myself loose and think about something else, as soon as i felt that. so 4 u and ur lucid dreams, if u are thinking negative thoughts, or thinking maybe about the old hag, (which sucks, but its not as bad as u think) just instantly snap out of that frame, and think about something else, more positive. after a while, ur brain just does it automatically, so u can erase a negative pattern like that.
what am i a psychologist? hehehe, just my 2 cents, good luck man with your lucid dreaming, hope this answered ur question (not 2 sure if it did ) l8er.
Weltonia, wellcome to ld4all
To your questions,
First, SP is not just something that happens to people who LD. SP happens to all normal people when they are in REM sleep. Most people never know that they have SP because they are asleep before it happens. If it happend to your father, then it could happen to you. It is just a siduation where your body is still asleep in REM, and you mind is awake. That gives you input from both the dream world, and the real world. If you don’t konw what is going on, it can be very scary. If you do know what is going on, it can be a good entry point to an LD, OOBE or AP if you belive in thoes things/ want to do them. The key is knowing what is happening and understanding that it is normal and not a problem. The people who have problems again and again with SP don’t know what is happening to them.
The main reason SP is such a big thing wiht LD’ers is that when you do WILD you actualy try to let your body go to sleep while your mind stays awake. This is exactly the situation where SP can happen. If you do not do WILD, then your chances of having SP are no more then when you don’t even try LD’ing. So that is no reason not to try it.
The frequency of SP will not be higher then normal unless you try WILD. Even if you do try WILD that doesn’t mean that you will experance SP. I do WILD and have never had SP. Lots of people never have it.
As I said befor, knowing what it is, and planning how to use it to enter an LD are the best ways to control it.
As for being a negative sort of person, that can effect just about everything in your life. I would suggest that you work on that in general. Being less negative should make you a happyer person.
In relation to LD’ing, I think that making plans for what to do when you have an LD, and focusing on them as you are getting ready to go to bed and LD would be a good way to work aganst the negative thoughts. LD’ing can be as fun and positive as you make it. It is not the real world, and you are the only person who decides how it is, so go out and make yourself the reality that you want in your dreams.
don
I’ve only had a few lucid dreams, and I dont believe SP is connected to them in any way. Long before I even learned what an LD was I was frequently having SP. I would have it multiple times in a night, sometimes when I woke up, sometimes while falling asleep. At first it was very frightening as is common. I’ve never had goblins sitting on my chest, but I have seen people and things moving out of the corner of my eyes, and heard mumbled voices and odd noises. Since I ahd it so often I got used to it, and learned not to fear SP. Once my fear disappeared so did my SP. I’ve heard of people using SP to enter lucidity, but I was never able to do anything like that. If you do get sleep paralysis relax! My first instinct was always to struggle franticly, it took some time for me to learn to sit still and calm my thoughts. Closing your eyes helps a lot, close your eyes and ask yourself if you are asleep. That usually woke me up . My main point is, do not worry about it and you should not have any problems, and if it does happen just remain calm and let yourself slip back into sleep or conciousness.
I occasionally experience SP if I wake up from lucid dreams (intentionally, to record them, or if I think I am not getting anywhere) or sometimes unintentionally, after nightmares. SP is not by itself scary. It can be, if you desperately try to move, but realize you can’t. This can be a very uncomfortable feeling indeed.
So, my advice is, if you wake up (or fall asleep) and notice SP, just do not try to move or use your real senses. Instead close your eyes, try to feel relaxed and wait a little. Either you will drift back into sleep, or wake up fully.
As for Old Hag/Demons, I think I am not qualified very well to give advice on that, since I have never experienced it myself. I think, however, that it is not very different from other fears. Therefore, it could be a big problem, like any other kind of fear can be.
ive experienced SP before, and yes it was scary but now that it has happened to me if it should happen again i think i’d rather enjoy it, in my SP i was very much awake, a cat with a clay mask strolled across my room and jumped on my chest, it sat down and started talking to me. Yes this did worry me at the time but deep down i knew it was ok.
SP is very much a state of relaxation and the point in where your body switches off so you can get some proper rest, and i am sure it happens to everyone as part as our bodies natral protection in sleep (sleep walkers have a lack in SP)?? correct me if i am wrong on that.
chances are you’ve had SP before you’ve just not been aware of it. I guess you may want to try MILD instead of WILD as you may enter SP during the WILD process.
Try wild if your feeling brave remember its all natural so it won’t hurt, and you never know you may find out something about yourself if you try it.
kingoflight, just to clarify a few points.
SP is normal, but it is durring REM sleep, not durring other sleep phases. It keeps you from acting out your dreams. There are people who don’t have SP, and they act out their dreams while they are dreaming. (not good to sleep next to one of these people. )
Sleep walking does not happen durring REM sleep. People who sleep walk, don’t act out their dreams. Sleep walking is something else. It has been a while, but the last thing I read about it said that it happens in one of the middle phases of sleep, deeper then REM, but not the deepest sleep. This was also the same phase where people turn over at night without wakeing up.
Most people never are aware of SP because as I said SP happens durring REM. REM normaly never happens right when you go to sleep, and when you wake up directly from a REM sleep phase, it usaly shuts off befor you notice it.
When you WILD you try to go directly from awake to REM sleep. For some people, this brings them into SP while they are still aware of their body. That is why it is a common topic with WILD.
If you have SP upon awakeing, it doesn’t have anything to do with LD, and can happen just as easyaly with ND’s.
don
for the longest time afterwards, no matter what i thought of, my mind would wonder to this fork in the eye image again and again, i would imagine, grabbing the fork by the tines, but the fork would magically grow and jab me in the eye. i know, im wierd right? 
hehehe, just my 2 cents, good luck man with your lucid dreaming, hope this answered ur question (not 2 sure if it did 
) l8er. 
I would suggest that you work on that in general. Being less negative should make you a happyer person. 
)